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Monday, April 18, 2011

Home-Ec 101: Skills For Everday Living Book Review

I was recently given the opportunity to review a new do-it-yourself book written by a fellow blogger. The book, Home-Ec 101 Skills For Everyday Living was written to help out people like myself, who are a little domestically challenged or sometimes need some extra tips for when it comes to the household.

Not that I'm saying I don't know how to do laundry or wash dishes but when it comes to getting a chocolate stain out of the carpet I had no idea that liquid detergent and (5%) diluted ammonia would do the trick. Well, that was until I read this book! Home-Ec 101 is seriously full of tips, techniques and suggestions for dealing with various parts of your household.

The blogger/author Heather Solo takes everyday cleaning to the next level by giving you advice on how to better clean and organize your home. By reading this book I found that mixing certain cleaning products (i.e., Bleach & Ammonia) can lead to creating either chlorine gas or nitrogen trichloride.

Home-Ec 101 didn't seem to leave any domestic topic out and I think it would be an especially helpful book for anyone who's just moved out on their own to own. Heck, I would've loved for someone to give me a copy of this book as a wedding gift ha-ha.

~ Clean It: Informs you of what items will be needed for everyday cleaning to those deep down cleaning days. Tips on dusting, cleaning floors, fighting grease and cleaning every corner of your bathroom.

~ Fix It: Shows you how to become your own handy-woman by fixing minor repairs (floors & walls), plumbing issues, and appliances.

~ Cook It: Includes a list of all cookware and small appliances most needed/used in a kitchen, shows you how to read a recipe correctly, meal planning and gives you tips on what a pantry should look like.

Heather Solo did a fantastic job in writing Home-Ec 101, it's funny, quirky, really easy to follow and the index in the back of the book makes it a sinch to find exactly what you're looking for. I love the fact that she included her own experiences, along with letters from some of her blog followers in the book. The tips I found in this book will definitely stay with me considering I had no idea I was cleaning toilet all the wrong way...d'oh!

The book also made me realize that if I put myself on a cleaning schedule where I clean something or a new room every day then I won't be so overwhelmed by cleaning the entire house all in one day or on my day off. I highly recommend this book be on your bookshelf or kindle, it's definitely one that you'll always refer back to, I know I will.

About the author:

Heather Solo created Home-Ec101.com in 2007. Her website has been cited as a reference in Woman's Day Magazine, she has served as a featured blogger on Type-A Mom and Blissfully Domestic. Hidden by her monitor, Heather Solo is a charming, a little snarky, and can answer household questions with the greatest of ease. In public, she's a little shy and happiest at the nerd's table riffing on web tech and shiny toys over beer and nachos. At home in the Low country of South Carolina, she's a writer and blogger. She stays busy with four kids and a patient husband who doesn't seem to mind living in the test kitchen where food must be photographed before it is served.

(Disclaimer: I recieved an e-copy of Home-Ec 101, courtesy of the O2O Network in order to review it. I was not monetarily compensated for this review and the views/opinions in this post are all mine. I will however be eligible to win a gift card for posting this review.)

Sounds like an awesome book :) I have to say I already knew about the ammonia/bleach thing from my chem class in college, during which our professor informed us that if we mixed the two we should "run like hell from the brown cloud".

Also, if diluted ammonia can get rid of chocolate stains, I'm just going to get my cats to start peeing on my stains! ;)